When the Dead Gets Cursing
by Girls' Wings
Summary: What if Eddie showed the video of Senkhara to Patricia instead of Mara? What if Patricia let the ghost out of the bag? What if Senkhara had other plans for the two of them?
1. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

Eddie burst through Patricia's bedroom door, clutching his laptop. Patricia opened her mouth to snap at him, but he cut her off. "Forget whatever you're about to say and look at this."

Patricia sat up to allow her boyfriend room to sit next to her. He quickly set the computer down and rewound the clip, only to pause it on a dark, ghostly figure.

Patricia gasped. "Senkhara!"

Eddie turned to her. "What?"

It wasn't until then that she realized what she had said. Her heartbeat quickened.

"Patricia, do you know this ghost?"

_Tell him. I dare you._

Patricia sprung up, glancing around the room, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't see Senkhara. Nina was the only one who ever saw her outside of a dream. But the amber-brunette knew the ghost was in her room.

She could feel her.

Anger boiled inside the girl. How dare Senkhara drag Eddie into this! Couldn't she tell the Sibunas were working as quickly as they could?

"Patricia?"

_Tell him of how I haunt you, Patricia Williamson._

"Leave him out of this!"

_You dare use that tone with me, girl. _

Just then, a fire burst from Patricia's curse mark, dropping her to the ground with a cry of agony. Eddie was instantly at her side. "Patricia, what wrong?"

The old ruler laughed.

Clutching her curse mark, Patricia pinpointed the ghost's position in front of her. "I'm not afraid of you!"

_Foolish girl! You will do as I say. You answer to me._

"No. I don't." Patricia smirked up at the ghost she knew was there. "I'm not your servant girl, Senkhara. I am done doing these tasks for you. All of us are! We are done!"

The fire zapped Patricia again and another cry ripped from her. Eddie held onto his shaking girlfriend, unsure what to do but unable to shake the possessive surge filling up his body.

_Don't you remember last time one of you tried to quit? Nina punished all of you with her words. Fabian lost his memory. Alfie turned into a child. Amber grew old. And you, dear Patricia—_

"Lost my voice, I know."

"Patricia…"

But his girlfriend refused to look at him. She refused to drag him into this.

_If you remember, than you would be wise to take that back._

"Why should I? Why should I do anything for you?"

_Because if you don't, your boyfriend will pay the ultimate price._

Patricia froze. She knew Senkhara meant it. She would punish Eddie for any performance of hers Senkhara deemed unworthy. _"Leave. Eddie. Alone."_

Now Eddie froze. They were talking about him. Why was Patricia protecting him? And from what?

_I give the orders, not you!_

Patricia cried out as the pain from her curse mark ripped through her body. It was as if her body was burning in white-hot flames. She tried to fight the pain, but she couldn't help from collapsing into the blond American. He shifted to support her as she fought to remain vertical. Then he noticed her sleeve had come up, and he could see the top of something black underneath her hand. He gently—but firmly—pulled her hand off of the mark. She froze as he saw the mark. "Eddie—"

"Patricia, what is this?"

She shook her head, turning away, but Eddie had ahold of her wrists, holding her to him.

"WHAT IS IT?"

The amber-brunette stared at her boyfriend, someone who had never turned into this. She could tell he already knew, but he wanted to hear her admit it.

He was going to be sadly disappointed.

She refused to say anything.

Senkhara, however, had other plans. She came over to kneel beside the children, and she placed her finger tip to the girl's mark. Patricia screamed.

"LEAVE HER ALONE, DAMMIT!"

Senkhara recoiled in surprise, and again, Patricia froze.

Eddie was watching her, even though the snap was directed to the spirit. He could see the tears in her eyes, and the fear for what came next. "Eddie."

_You have sealed his fate, girl._

"No! Leave him alone! I'll finish the tasks! I will! Just don't mark him! Please!"

Eddie's breath hitched. His broiling anger suddenly went aflame as he understood. "This is your mark, Senkhara."

_Good boy. _

Suddenly, Patricia could see her, and, by the tightening of his grip, so could Eddie. She was even more ominous in person. "What is this mark?"

"Eddie, please—" Patricia started.

_If she and her friends do not find me the Mask of Anubis very soon, they will forfeit their lives!_


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

Eddie's brown eyes widened. Suddenly he couldn't breathe. He felt numb. What did she mean "forfeit their lives"? She couldn't mean—

His chocolate orbs moved to his still-trembling girlfriend. "What is she talking about Patricia?"

She refused to look at him.

Now he knew he was right. Something in him snapped, but he didn't get the chance to ask.

_I must have the mask. I must prove once and for all I am the rightful ruler!_

Eddie looked at the amber-brunette for clarification, to which she whispered, "She murdered King Tutankhamen."

The spirit shrieked a blood-curdling cry. _HOW DARE YOU SPEAK THAT NAME?_

She placed her finger against Patricia's curse mark, shoving her anger into the girl, causing her to cry out as well. The pain was unbearable; Patricia couldn't shake it. She was able to subdue the other attacks with concentration, but this fried any conscious will the girl had left.

Although, he couldn't see her, Eddie knew the spirit was there.

The lost ruler of Egypt.

Tutankhamen's murderer.

The possessive wave that drowned his body boiled.

Just as he was about to explode, his world went black.

Eddie Miller sprang up in his bed, his eyes wide with fragments of fear and anger, his hands balled in tight fists. He clung to his head. _What a dream_, he thought, and then got up for the day.

As he dressed, his mind was on the dream. It felt so real to him, almost like he had _existed _in the dream world. He could hear the fear in Patricia's voice, feel the trembling in her body. He could nearly see that ghost—Se…Se…

He suddenly couldn't remember the name or why it was so important. He could not remember what he had seen on Patricia's wrist. The only thing he was set on was checking Patricia. He had to make sure she was okay. No matter the cost.

"Eddie?"

The blonde shook his head clear of cobwebs and glanced at his roommate. "What?"

"You're focusing rather hard on something. Are you alright?"

Eddie shrugged in acknowledgement and pushed through the door towards the breakfast table. The others were already at the table: Nina and her groupie were at the closest end of the table, at which Fabian sat down at. Then Jerome, Alfie, and Mara sat near the middle, leaving the opposite end for him, Joy, and Patricia.

Pushing the dream to the back of his mind and pulling the smirk onto his face, he moved to sit next to her. Joy instantly greeted him with a smile, but Patricia barely even acknowledged his presence at all. She was too focused on the other end of the table, where the girls were giving her a worried look.

Patricia had to admit: she felt bad. Really bad. She had pushed Eddie onto Senkhara's tracks the moment she showed any recognition to his video at all. She couldn't believe she had done that. So, instead of turning to the blonde, she kept her eyes focused the Sibunas.

Truth be told, that didn't make her feel any better either. She hadn't told them what had happened. She almost did this morning, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She knew the others were suspicious, but…what could she do?

The school day was just as awkward for the amber-brunette. To her, it felt as if the entire school wanted to know. She kept imagining the teachers and her classmates asking her about Senkhara and Eddie, when, in truth, the topic at hand had absolutely nothing to do with either of them.

Eddie, too, felt the pressures of the school day. All day, he was either thinking about where his girlfriend was, or, as he stared at her, what the hell had her so jumpy. No matter how hard the blonde tried, he couldn't shake the feeling that it had something to do about the dream he'd had the previous night. He didn't understand how, but somehow he knew.

The dream had been coming back to him, too. By lunch, he could remember all of it, except the ghost's name.

It irked him.

As he exchanged books in his locker, he suddenly heard Amber cry, "There she it! Get her!"

The American whirled just in time to see Amber and Fabian grab ahold of Patricia, while Nina and Alfie cornered her in. A familiar surge of possessiveness trickled into Eddie's veins, but he swallowed it down.

He had a feeling he'd want to hear this.

From where he was, Eddie couldn't hear them—he could barely make out his girlfriend's face—so he crept closer, until he was on just the other side of the doorframe they stood at. They were frantically whispering, just barely audible to his ears.

He picked up Amber's line first: "—you say?"

"Nothing!" That was his Patricia, defensive as ever.

_His?_

"C'mon, Patricia. We know something is up."

Nina practically cut off Fabian's line. "You have to tell us. Sibuna, remember?"

"Yeah, of course, I remember!"

Their eavesdropper almost couldn't control his laughter.

"Then spill," Amber cried, earning a _shh!_ from the others.

Patricia sighed and Eddie leaned closer. She was going to break.

"I saw Senkhara, okay?"

Eddie froze. That was it. That was the name he couldn't remember. The name of the ghost in his dream. The name of the ghost who hurt Patricia.

Anger boiled his blood, but he breathed slowly, trying to hear the rest of the conversation. He just barely caught their response.

"_What?"_

But no one was ready for what Patricia Williamson said next:

"Get ready for a new Sibuna member."


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

Patricia pushed past her friends—and her boyfriend, for that matter—and disappeared around the corner. She had to get away. She knew they wouldn't like it, but what choice did she have?

Senkhara had threatened Eddie. She couldn't just sit idly by while the undead overtook her boyfriend.

Patricia's steps slowed, as though merely floating along.

The amber-brunette loved him; she knew that. Eddie didn't know what to think of her. She kept secrets from him, even after she made him promise to tell _her_ the truth. It wasn't fair, but she was doing the best she could. She was trying to protect him.

"Patricia!"

Startled, the girl turned to see a certain black-haired ex-roommate peering at her from the doorway of their next class. "What?"

With an exasperated look, she stepped toward her best friend. "One, you about ran into that door."

Patricia glanced in front to discover, yes, indeed, she was about to stride, face-first, into the main entrance of the school. She gave a slight nod to Mara, silently thanking her for the save.

Mara smiled, "And two, you're going to be late for class." The bell rang. "Rephrasing: you_ are_ late for class."

Patricia sighed, glancing between the doorway behind Mara to the main entrance. The truth was she just didn't have the energy for a Shakespearean lecture. "I'm really not feeling well. Tell everyone I went home?"

She didn't wait for a reply.

After Patricia's little outburst, Sibuna was bustling with hushed noise. A certain blonde almost followed her, but instead stayed to hear the reactions: shock to anger to fear.

It was no surprise that Amber Millington's was the loudest, but everyone quickly realized Nina—the supposed leader to their "super-secret club" (as in Amber's words)—was irregularly calm. Eddie couldn't help making note of that.

Fabian shot her a look.

"We should have seen it coming."

"Patricia and Eddie are a couple now. It's only natural she'd want him to know the truth. It's hard keeping things from someone you love."

Suddenly, their American eavesdropper couldn't breathe. His entire chest constricted, ripping conscious control from him. As he struggled to breathe, he studied harder on their words.

"Wait, are you saying Trixie actually loves someone?"

Amber smacked Alfie on the arm, earning a yelp. "She loves us, doesn't she? Otherwise, she wouldn't have joined Sibuna in the first place."

Eddie tucked the term away.

Nina smiled. "All I'm saying is that, even in Sibuna, she's alone. She's the one who has to lie to her boyfriend. I mean, I have Fabian and you have Alfie, both of whom know all about Senkhara and the Mask. Eddie doesn't know anything."

Pink tinted Fabian's cheeks as the other two smiled knowingly, Nina blinking at them in utter confusion. Amber waved it away. "We have to do this, don't we? For Eddie's sake as much as Patricia's."

Nina and Fabian nodded in agreement. It was Alfie who spoke out: "I thought loving someone meant protecting them, not dragging them to their doom-by-evil-spirits."

"If Eddie comes with us, Senkhara will mark him like the rest of us—"

"But if we leave him alone, anyone could use him as a pawn—"

"Anyone as in Victor, Senkhara, Rufus—"

"I think he gets it, Amber." Nina stepped in, recycling the cut-off chain. She turned to Alfie. "Point is, no matter how he gets the information, Eddie will be submerged in the race for the Mask and eventually be marked."

Grabbing ahold of Alfie's shoulder, Fabian continued. "Don't you think it's safer for him to be with us, rather than someone who will only hurt him more."

"Besides," Nina took over again. "Senkhara will only wait so long for the mask, and having a classmate as an enemy is not going to help anything. Right?"

The others nodded. Then Amber energetic war-cry came out: "Operation Kidnap Eddison Sweet is now underway."

With muffling giggles, the group of friends headed towards class, brushing right by their intended victim.

%%%

By the time fourth period rolled around, Eddie didn't feel like staying, so he slipped out of school and headed home. He had remembered that both Trudy and Victor were out, so he took no precautions. As he pushed the side door open, he came upon the back of Patricia's head. She was standing in the kitchen, staring at something in her hands. "Whatcha got there, Yacker?"

Patricia jumped, startling Eddie. "What are you doing here, slimeball?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

The amber-brunette slid the object back into her pocket. _This is dangerous_, her mind replayed over and over. _This is dangerous._

She couldn't believe she hadn't heard him enter. Mr. Sweet's son wasn't quite the stealthy type, which only aggravated her more. Turning on her heel, she headed towards her bedroom, but a hand snatched a hold of her wrist. "What's going on here, Patricia?"

Shame balled in her gut, she played innocent. "What are you talking about?"

"_I'm not blind, Patricia."_

Suddenly, her curse mark seared and she ripped her hand back. She kept her arms pinned to her side. No more clues. No more telling.

_This is dangerous. This is dangerous._

_This is dangerous._

She froze. That last repetition was different, and she'd know that voice anywhere.

Her previous objective forgotten, Patricia spun around, using her body to block Eddie's. "Show yourself!"

Part of Eddie wanted to run the other way, running faster than he could, putting distance between him and whatever invisible being his girlfriend was addressing; part of him wanted to call a doctor and check his girlfriend into a mental hospital for yelling at air.

But a sliver of him knew exactly what she was addressing. Or rather, _who_…

Then a dark cloud accumulated in front of them, causing both to tense. First a dark, ash-colored face appeared, then a black-clad body. It was as if they were watching a 3D black-and-white movie. But then the blonde noticed the crown she wore and his memory clicked into place. "Senkhara…"

Patricia blinked at his growl. How did he remember? To him, it was only a dream, right? _Right?_

_You are wasting time, girl. _

"We're working as fast as we can," the teen snapped. "These tasks were created by a mastermind."

The spirit scoffed. _He created the tasks for his daughter to solve, a mere child! Five of you should have no problem solving them. _

"Sarah grew up in Egyptian mythology! We have to go searching for the answers!"

The instant the spirit smirked, Patricia knew she had crossed the line. _Eddie!_ was all her mind could handle.

Suddenly, Senkhara was inches from her. _Then, perhaps, you should seek another head. _

An evil grin on her face, the undead ruler shoved the girl to the ground and shot her glowing hand at the blonde.

A blood-curdling scream flooded the empty space of Anubis House.


End file.
